SoigneurDad Rides Again -- No, Really

April 5, 2015 -- Sunday, watching de Ronde Van Vlaanderen (aka Tour of Flanders).

Yesterday Jake & I raced at the Morgantown RR (technically in Pennsylvania most of the time, but we'll call it West - by god - Virginia).  But back to that in a moment.

Updates -- The great college search and application process (Version 1.0) has finally concluded.  One of the top 5 jobs as a parent is get them into college (others: keep them alive; teach them to use the toilet; ?)  Jake had been looking at Univ of Colorado Boulder, UVa, and Furman University*.  He got accepted to CU Boulder early, in December, but then got a better chance to look into Furman when we visited in February and immediately loved it and wanted to attend.  Most incredibly, Furman has a varsity cycling team, and they offered Jake a scholarship (yes, bike racing scholarship, incredible to think of).**  So, a great opportunity for him to get a high quality education and also race with a strong and growing team (and I love the Coach, Rusty Miller).  But Jake had to be accepted through the regular process, and it's a very selective school, so not easy to get into.  They wouldn't announce their decisions until April 1st.  So, we waited...anxiously.  Last Friday evening Jake got the email -- he was accepted.  He was very happy -- so much he almost showed it.

That's my sweatshirt from 1984

In the Arlington front, Liam had applied to Thomas Jefferson High School, which is a VERY competitive school focused on math and science.  It is literally the number one public high school in the country.  It's technically Fairfax County but they make a very small number of spots available to Arlington residents (we heard 9 or so this year).  There are multiple rounds of testing, and Liam had made it to the final group, but we heard last week that he had not been in that chosen small group.  Ultimately, it's fine.  He had started to think that perhaps he didn't want to go anyway.  But super proud of him making it to that final selection.  So now he'll just get straight A's through Yorktown and we'll be on to College Section 2.0.

On his 14th Birthday

With Jake a big boy now, this spring I'm doing some road racing.  I'll do Tour of Battenkill in late April, and so wanted to get in some races before that, and also toward being in shape for Cyclocross nationals next January.  Two weeks ago we did Black Hills which went poorly for me (Jake had a flat tire), so we won't talk about that.

Jeff Cup
Last Sunday, we did the Jeff Cup just outside of Charlottesville, so just 20 minutes from our Crozet Team House.  Jake did the 3/4 and I did the 45+ (which unfortunately they ran with the 35+).  So me, life-long cat 4 on the road, was with 36 year old life long Cat 1s and 2s.  I would hold on.  I felt ok on a lot of the climbs and held on to the group for about 45 miles before cracking.  Rode the final 10 mile lap alone.  Generally, I was happy with how I felt and getting back into the rhythm of the pack.  I was 30th in the 45+ (but 3rd Cat 4 of that group).  Jake had some stomach issues after attacking off the front two different times in the first two laps, so had to pull out (I had some stomach upset a few days later so maybe something went around our house).

First time off the front

Jake & Tanner at the top of the big hill

Morgantown RR
Jake was eager to target the Morgantown Road Race.  It's a very hard race, with a bunch of grinding West Virginia climbs.  You'll recall he/we last did it in 2012 (here).  It's a good course for Jake.  Only the strong and good climbers make it to the end.  I signed up for the 40+.

It's 4 hours from Crozet, so we drove to Wisp Resort in Maryland Friday night to shorten the trip Saturday morning.  A cold front came through overnight and it was only 31 degrees when we left.  There was sleet as we drove over the mountains to Morgantown (it's up in the corner where W.Va and Pa meet).  The course was different than 2012.  This year there were 7 (depending on what you count) climbs.  Looks like this:

Climby

So they sent 40+/50+/60+ men and women Cat 123 all at once.  We started off briskly and I was sitting in  trying to do no work and just follow.  There were some hard efforts responding to attacks but also some easy times.  We were going  fairly hard from the get go.  We hammered hard up that first climb, and people were constantly getting dropped.  I genuinely don't remember exactly when I was disconnected from the front group.  It was about mile 25 in, I think it was on that very big climb, I think it was on the kicker at the top, not sure.  I got gapped in part because I was having to fight up after people opened gaps on a descent just before the climb.  I hooked up with about 10 other people, including the leaders of the Women 123, one guy was 60+ the rest 40+ I think. 

One guy, who was bigger, was killing it on the long flats and into the wind but at some point I realized that me and one other guy were climbing much faster than the rest, but there were 20 miles left.  I kept it in mind.

I was suffering no doubt.  On what I thought was the last climb, 43 miles in, I pressed from the bottom and sure enough I got a gap and only the one guy could come with me.  We had a gap, but couldn't hold it on the downhill.  I couldn't help much on the downhill..  On the next climb about half way up again I stood up and accelerated then drove away.  The one guy came up to me.  We had a decent gap this time and 5 miles to go, all basically gradually downhill.  We hammered on the downhill but I was struggling.  The group was far enough back to be out of sight at times. I was pulling through but my legs were near cramping and locking up. I couldn't help enough but I felt bad so I kept pulling through.  with 2 miles to go he gapped me.  I tried to hold them off alone for a while, but w/ 2km to go the group caught me and made me sit on the front.  I soft pedaled.  Then at 1km to go I drove it hard to lead out the 2 women.  Then I slid in behind them.  The sprint was uphill I went all out, legs trying to cramp.  One 40+ guy had come around but I held off the others.  So I was 11^th among 40+.  The guy I had been with was 9th, so I would have been 10^th.  Pretty good for a lifelong Cat 4.

In the meantime, up ahead, Jake had a great race.  He followed a more conservative strategy and hung with the ever dwindling lead group, ultimately down to about 8.  He sprinted for 4th out of that little group.

He was riding for his Cat 3 team, PTS (with the cow hat)

 It was a beautiful evening to drive back through the mountains and valleys of West Virginia.  Good times to come in the final season of SoigneurDad.

*Ok, so there is a family history with Furman.  I went there my freshman year of college in 1984.  Back then it was controlled by the Southern Baptist Convention.  I wasn't so happy with the very conservative/religious student body (although I did run track in the spring, which helped), and ultimately transferred to U.F.   We found out this fall that Furman had split with the Baptists and that the student body had diversified.  After our visit, Jake and I were comfortable that he would fit in (yes, I asked several students very pointed questions about this topic).  So, things change, new opportunities open. Special thanks to Peter Hufnagel of Miller School who helped with this.

** The governing body here is USA Cycling, not NCAA.  USA Cycling considers a program "varsity" if it meets certain criteria (I think there are 4).  One of them is giving scholarships.  There are I think just a few less than 20 varsity programs in the country, although it is a growing thing.

Rocktown Cyclocross Festival 2014

Saturday Jake and I went to Harrisonburg VA for the Rocktown Cyclocross Festival.  It's a great little race that we've done several times (see 2011 and 2012).  It's put on by Ken and Connor Bell and Curtis Winsor.  This year they put up $1000 purse for the elite men's race, with the winner getting $500 and 2nd getting $250.  Well, that attracted all the top guys and a bunch who wanted a shot at the $.

We had a little fun from the week before.  Ken passed me last week at DCCX when I slid out, and his son, Connor (who is 19 and who went to Worlds on the MTB), dropped Jake when Jake crashed a couple times.  So, I said the Thompsons would have their revenge.

Well, I tried my best, and I was with Ken for the first couple laps, but then he dropped me.  So he was 6th and I was 7th.  As usual, saving the family honor on a bike was up to Jake.

The Men's elite field was 14 strong, with big names like Wes Schempf, Greg Wittwer, Nick Waite and Ben Frederick among several strong guys from the Harrisonburg-based Pro Tested Gear team.  Jake got the worst start in the history of cyclocross (a dramatic exaggeration, but it was bad; he says Ben Frederick missed his pedal in front of him).  Whatever the reason, he was at the very end of a fast line going up the starting hill. But he did a good job moving forward as the lap progressed.  Here is some video by Danny Gibney mid-lap as he comes over the barriers in the second group (in the neon yellow jersey). 
[[try this link for the video]]

Post by Danny Gibney.

He was moving well and on the first lap dropped Connor and former Coppi Kimani Nielsen (3rd in 35+ at DCCX, so fast) and then moved forward when Curtis crashed. 

Chasing

 

By the second lap, he had moved up to 8th, about 15 seconds behind the group in 5, 6, 7th.  and pulling away from Curtis and Kimani

A few laps later, the guy from Pro Tested Gear in 7th cracked and Jake caught him (and he ultimately pulled out). Jake was solidly in 7th, a minute up on Curtis and Kimani and 30 seconds behind the elite mtb racer who was in 6th.  He closed that slightly on the last lap

riding in the fall colors

solidly in 7th

So, it was a good ride.  Definite positive development, and the speed he showed on laps 2 and 3 in particular were a key positive sign for upcoming 17-18 UCI races.  Indeed, next weekend we're back to Cincinnati.

Two 7ths for Thompsons.  Thanks to Ken, Connor and Curtis for a great race.  Connor was making some excellent Belgian waffles.

Providence Cyclocross Festival Day 1

Here's a quick re-cap of Day 1 at the Providence Cyclocross Festival:

The drive up Friday was uneventful. Car full.

We checked out the course.  Dry, fast, some crazy fly-overs

stairs into a fly-over - there were 4 fly-overs depending on how you count

 Weather: cloudy and cool, the rain wasn't supposed to start until 3pm, just in time for Jake's race.

We made our way to the venue and filled out under a tent set up by Bill Browne.  It was unofficial Miller School of Albemarle race HQ for the day

I raced the 35+ Elite.  Staged like 135th based on rankings points.  The lots of traffic.  I felt so-so to "ok"; I moved up and finished 84th.  Crossresults.com predictor said I'd be 107th so, that's positive.  Most important, I didn't get lapped!

Then I got into Soigneur Dad mode.  Would the rain arrive for Jake's race?

warm up

Jake got a first row call up based on random draw.  He had injured his achilles about 4 weeks ago, so couldn't train for 2 weeks, then he immediately got an upper respiratory virus and was sick for a week.  So he hasn't been training but a week, so expectations were "realistic."  This was for fun.

Jake & Tanner

 

Several laps into the race, Jake yelled that he needed his asthma inhaler.  I ran around looking for it until I realized it was in the pocket of his jacket that I was wearing.  But he decided not to take it during the race.  The rain started during his race, but luckily he had started on his mud tires, so he was doing better as other boys started crashing.  He caught one boy and stayed with it. so a solid effort.  I got him his inhaler immediately after the race and he said "that's so much better."

On the gas late in the race; putting time in the kid behind him

A little messy; not too bad

 We hung around to watch the pros (in the pouring rain).  Sam O'Keefe did well, looked good. Just outside the top 25 in the Pro race.
 
We chatted with Ted King.  And I saw Mo Bruno Roy getting a soft serve ice cream with sprinkles after her race!  Got to see lots of people I kinda know.  I had a very nice talk with Ellen Noble

Now the hotel room has wet stuff hanging on everything!

Tomorrow should be fun.  Sunshine but wet ground.  Slippy Slidey

Winchester Apple Cross 2014 -- the best course in the Mid Atlantic

Jake had a senior trip to ..... Washington DC on Friday and Saturday (they had dinner at Whitlows, hahahaha; the highlight was when they saw the pedal pub).  So, I grabbed him from the group Saturday afternoon.

Sunday morning we packed up and drove out to Winchester.  I love that course.  It's really well done.  Jon Hicks knows how to make turns and use the terrain.  (It doesn't hurt that it suits my power profile).

But there was discord.  Jake has been sick all week, coughing like a seal with pneumonia.  So, on Friday his coach emailed him to make clear that Jake should/would not race on Sunday.  It would just put him in a deeper health hole.  So, here's the photo of Jake when he got the news:

So this blog post is about Soigneur Dad as racer!

I had been feverishly gluing tires all week, so I had my Zipp 303 w/ Challenge Fango back in the front.  I had a new Chicane on a rear, but decided to go with a Grifo for traction riding up the wall.  I did 1.5 laps pre-ride.  Legs didn't feel great after a bit of a rest week (I hate rest weeks).  I was getting ready to get on the trainer to warm up, but instead thought I'd spend some precious time in the "facilities."  Oy.  So, limited warm up.

Although I've been top 10 here in the past (last year 7th I think), with current strength/fitness (or lack thereof) I figured a top 15 would be a decent goal.  I also made a conscious decision to hold back at the start.  After a scary crash in the start where I barely avoided hitting Bill Wheeler (he's fine)

Photo by the talented Doug Graham (I'm the one aimed directly at Bill on the ground)

  I let the front 10 go and sat behind Bill Lueke (NCVC) for a bit w/ Mark Stahl behind me.  I got around Bill in some technical bits in the woods and me and Mark had some fun.

Thanks again to Doug Graham (me and Mark)

I had gapped Mark at one point, but he came back on the start/finish road.  I used roadie mode and forced him to come around and pull then I went around hard past the pits.  In a humorous moment on lap 2 Mark fell over half way up the wall in front of me, forcing me to get off and run, then on the next lap, I was in front and in the exact same spot I pulled my foot out of my pedal forcing him to run.  We laughed.

With 2 laps to go, heading toward the wall, Cory of Sportif had crashed ahead of us and was laying there kinda tangled up.  Mark asked if he was ok and he said yes, but damn if Mark isn't a great guy so he stopped.  I felt guilty at that point but kept going (yes, I'm a horrible person).  From there it really was all out for me for the last lap to make sure Mark and others didn't catch me from behind.  Turns out I was 14th (Mark was 15th).  Usually I catch and pass Scott Stahl on the last lap of Winchester.  Not this year but he was 13th in front of me (he usually is way in front of me; he really should thrive on that course; it's a mystery why he struggles and I thrive).

Last I saw him Dan Klaussen was rolling away in the lead 10, so I was supprised when I saw him at 26th in the results.  Turns out he had rolled a tire (I don't remember passing him).

Dan shows rubbin is racin

Lots of fun today.  Great seeing old Friends.  Thanks to Doug Graham for holding my keys and all the great photos.  Good to see him again.

Eric Blomquist got me with a fish eye lens - cross beard is grey

 Got a new Winchester Apple Cross hat, this year in red

I only look mildly maniacal when I smile

Hope that I can convince Liam to come out to a race, and maybe even Loren.

Next weekend Jake & I will make our first ever trip up to the end of "Holy Week" -- Providence!

Cyclocross returns with a bang - Charm City CX 2014

Well. Yeah. Where to start.

There are people who do cyclocross for "fun." It's a lark, they wear funny socks or costumes and are more in it for the beer.  That's fine, but as Adam Myerson once said, it's also a race and it's ok to take it seriously.  That's me.  I take cross seriously.  I care about it. I want to do well.  I measure myself on how I ride and how I perform.  If I don't do well, I'm cranky.


But, we've had a lot going on in our lives here at Team Thompson & Son Racing.  Liam has retired or is taking a sabbatical (he won't let me sell his bike).  Jake has suffered various set-backs that have led to a frustrating year and him not being where he wants to be or can be.  Just 2 weeks ago he hurt his achilles running, so had to soft pedal for a week or 10 days.  Oh, and I didn't train and frequently failed to ride my bike at all for the first 7 months of the year.  So, I've got that going for me.  (but I do have a case before the Supreme Court -- T-Mobile v. City of Roswell -- Oral argument November 10th).

And cyclocross is not a sport that lets you ignore your equipment.  But our bikes basically sat untouched since the last muddy race in December 2013.  So, on Thursday Jake rolled a tubular in practice and we realized that we only had 1 pair of tubular wheels that weren't for super muddy conditions.  So, first a super big thanks to Scott Paisley of Blue Wheel Bikes in Charlottesville.  He's a friend and a great guy and he loaned me a pair of Ksyrium tubulars for Jake to race on.  Without them we'd have been in trouble.  As it was, he and I would "share" a pair of mud wheels in the pit in the case of emergency.

Saturday Jake and I drove up to Baltimore.  They have significantly changed the course.  I prefer the old version but maybe I'm just cranky.  It was a tough course with lots of climbing, sand, and stairs that are way too high for short people like me.

Oh, so, for a while my left pedal has been making noise and I knew I needed to rebuild it.  It's easy, I've done it before; Takes 15 minutes.  During warm up I said to Jake "this pedal sounds like it's going to explode" <that's called "foreshadowing">.

I lined up in the middle of 100 45+ racers (and good lord why do all these young guys have to now be 45+?).  I got a decent start and shot into the top 30 at least.  But, about 15 minutes into the race, I blew up and started going backwards.  BUT then my pedal blew up.  It had stripped itself and was now sliding off the spindle.  I could ride but had to focus on keeping my foot pushed inward to keep in on.  The biggest problem was when I turned and went to put my weight and lateral pressure on it, it would slide off.  I tried a neutral bike but literally crashed because the flat pedals left my feet slipping off.  it was terrible, so I took my bike back (neutral mechanic was like "but the pedal is completely off" -- me "it's better than this").  So I finished, getting lapped by the winner just before the finish line so I was down a lap and 69th.

it's not supposed to look like this

Look closely at this photo of me riding the sand and you can see it sliding off


Jake also had a hard time.  Someone hit him from behind the first time up the stairs and it unbuckled his shoe.  I gather he practically pulled his foot out of it and had to spend time trying to re-buckle etc.  Oh and we couldn't get his headset tight enough and it was creaking and making other nasty noises.
But he looked great in his new Air Attack helmet



This what happens when you don't get your shit together.

We hung out a bit with Tanner and his parents and Liam Panero and his mom, and had burritos.  It was of course always good to see people again. 

So, Sunday we try again.  I took the pedals off Liam's bike (I know I'm going to get a call mid-week that for the first time in 9 months Liam wants to ride his bike and "where are his pedals").

They reversed the course.  I felt ok in warm up. But now my rear Ksyrium was making noise.  I figured that would blow up today (it didn't).

The start was a mess.  Within 45 seconds They took us into a 190 degree off camber turn that was only 6 feet wide.  Now, I'm good at chaos, so I saw the clog starting and got off my bike and ran through the mess, passing probably 15 people.  Unfortunately, I blew up again (god it was hot and dusty) This time the blow-up came about 25-30 minutes into the race.  And the last 2 laps I had to "run" the second half of the sand because it was too dry and deep and my legs were shot (and by run I mean shuffle like an old man). I lost 10-15 spots in the last 3 laps (most all at once when a big group caught me and I died).  I was 50th.  Ugh.

Jake was racing in the elite junior race at the same time as me (starting 1 minute behind).  He passed me early.  But apparently the heat got him too.

[[updated: Gentry Jefferson got some cool shots of Jake on Sunday:

"Get out of my way old men"

 

But we hung out a bit again which was nice.  I wish I had more time to talk to all the guys I haven't seen in a year.

So, next steps: rush buy 2 sets of tubular wheels and hope we can glue them before Winchester or at least Providence.  Buy new pedals for me. Re-build Jake's.  Probably new bottom bracket for my bike.  Oh, and we will be "making the trainings," as the Belgians say.  (insert picture of trainer in front of brick wall in the dark).

It will get better, but I'm frustrated with myself for letting it get this bad.  The first cyclocross race is always a brutal slap in the face, punch to the gut, kick in the balls -- all at the same time. This weekend didn't disappoint.

Fun stuff coming up.  Next weekend is Winchester, which I LOVE.  And then the next week Jake and I are going to Providence.  It's a monument of American Cyclocross.  It should be super fun, even if neither of us will likely be at our peak yet.  But later we'll go to Cincinnati (you've been warned Peebles family), and of course everyone should go register for the Tacchino.

Hope you enjoy these little things.  Sorry for the lack of photos.

Tour de Millersburg -- A tale of kind people, host housing, and small town Pennsylvania

Yeah, I haven't done this in a while.  It's been a frustrating season for Jake for many reasons and we don't like to focus on those struggles.  But this is going to be about a different part of bike racing: the people you meet and the different things you do.

So, after crashing out after Stage 1 of the Tour of L'Abitibi, an international stage race in Canada (a story unto itself), Jake wanted to get in more racing, so we decided to do the Tour de Millersburg, a 3 stage race in Millersburg Pa.  It's a very small town 30 miles north of Harrisburg on the Susquehanna River.

Where to stay was a bit of a mystery.  There is maybe one crappy old hotel in town or else hotels in Harrisburg, a 30+ minute drive away.  I knew guys who had done the race and stayed with "host housing" where local residents take racers into their homes.  So I clicked on the link and contacted the promoter.  Julia Hoffman was incredibly helpful and responsive.  She hooked us up with Deb Wire, who had an extra mattress that jake could sleep on on the floor and I would get a cot or air mattress.  Well, it sounded ok, so we were in.

The drive up on Friday afternoon was hellish traffic, but we got there around 6pm.  Deb has a very cool old, circa 1890s, house on the corner of Market Street.  She also hosts a couple of other guys who have been staying with her every year for several years.  On Friday evening we sat out on the front porch and chatted. The temperatures quickly got almost chilly.  It was very nice. 

Deb lights her table top tiki torch

Deb was an incredibly interesting woman.  She raised 5 children by herself.  She had one son and was a foster parent and adopted 4 of the kids, all with some level of special needs.  She had great stories about taking in children who were in high risk situations.  She clearly had a genuine love for taking care of people, children in particular.  She treated me and Jake and the other 3 guys (Ryan, Jared, and Sal) like we were her sons.  She had mini fridges in the living room for Ryan, Jared and Sal and one in the dining room where Jake and I slept.  It was really nice.

And the location was so incredible.  The time trial Saturday morning started literally 50 yards down the road in front of Deb's house.  So Jake just had to walk out the front door and warm up on the sidewalk.

Jake had a really really good TT effort. The placing wasn't what he wanted, but it was probably the best TT effort he's ever done.  His heart rate was high and his wattage was even and solid going out and back.  But it was very flat so big guys who outweigh him by 30-40 pounds could just go faster.  Deb took these great photos of Jake

Go fast, get Pancakes at the Moose Lodge

The Crit was just 3 blocks up from Deb's house in the afternoon.  I carried the trainer up the street and Jake warmed up while the Men's 123 race went by.  The crit was very tight and Jake started well but faded with legs shot from the morning (ok, only like 18 guys were left at the end).  There were guys who did not try in the TT in order to save their legs for the crit.  We would see them just roll by easy.

Deb caught a few shots of Jake -- significantly outweighed by his competitors

This is bike racer porch life at the Tour de Millersburg

On Saturday night Deb cooked us chicken parmigiana and pasta with blueberry cobbler for desert and refused all help.  After dinner I walked down to the town square to get some cash from the ATM and grab a soft serve ice cream.  The little town really comes out for the race.  It was great to see.

The road race Sunday started *literally* right outside Deb's front porch.  So again we just rolled out the front door and there was the start/finish and also the feed zone right on the main street.  No need for sitting in a ditch in a field like usual.  It was great.

That's Deb's house

Looking at the officials from the porch

Cat 3 RR start

 I had to walk like 20 yards from the porch to get here.

This is my "where is Jake" stance

 

There was a big crowd to watch the finish along the main street (Market Street).  It was really cool.  Jake had mechanical trouble that took him off the group on the second of 3 laps which sucked and was just entirely too typical of how this year has gone.

Despite the races not going quite how Jake would like, it was a really fun experience.  Host housing was an enriching experience, meeting new and interesting people, just hanging out.  Even though the courses suit a "big" rider better than Jake, I can imagine going back next year.  Lots of fun.